Namdhari Movement

After
the fall of kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, there were several
attempts to raise the old glory of the Khalsa. Several movements to
reform the Sikhism were started. First one being Namdhari movement,
which was started by
Baba Ram Singh Namdhari after anglo Sikh wars. He was a soldier in
Khalsa army.

Like
the Nirankari, this second reform movement known as
the Namdhari, or Kuka, movement also had its origin in the
north-west corner of the Sikh kingdom, away from the places
of royal pomp and grandeur. It harked back to a way of life
more in keeping with the spiritual tradition of the community.
Its principal object was to spread the true spirit of
Sikhism shorn of tawdry customs and mannerism, which
had been growing on it since the beginning of Sikh monarchy.
In the midst of national pride born of military glory and
political power, this movement extolled the religious obligation
for a pious and simple living. They were called "Kukas" because of
their peculiar style to recite the Gurbani (Sayings of the Gurus).
This style was in a high pitched voice, called Kook in punjabi, and
thus Namdhari Khalsa's were named Kukas.

The
founder, Bhai Balak Singh (1799-1862) of Hazro,
was a holy man whose noble example and sweet persuasive
manner won him a number of followers. The most prominent
among them was Baba Ram Singh who undertook the
direction of the movement after Bhai Balak Singh, giving
it a more positive orientation.

Baba
Ram Singh, born at Bhaini, in Ludhiana district
in 1816, was a soldier in the Sikh army. With his regiment
he once happened to visit Hazro where he fell under the
influence of Bhai Balak Singh. He became his disciple and
dedicated himself to his mission. For his religious pursuits
he had ample time in the army which, towards the end of Ranjit
Singh's day, was comparatively free from its more arduous
tasks. In the 1845 Anglo-Sikh war, Baba Ram Singh fought against
the English at Mudki.

He
gave up service after the occupation of Lahore
and returned to his village, Bhaini, which became another
important centre of the Namdhari faith. Upon Baba Balak
Singh's death, in 1862, the chief responsibility passed
on to Baba Ram Singh, whose growing influence helped in
the extension of the movement in central and eastern
Punjab. An elaborate agency for missionary work was set
up. The name of the head in a district—Suba, meaning governor—
had a significant, though remote, political implication.
There were altogether twenty-two such Subas, besides two
Jathedars, or group leaders, for each tahsil and a Granthi,
Scripture-reader or priest, for each village.

In
the government papers of that period, Baba
Ram Singh' s mission is described thus:

He abolishes all distinction of caste among Sikhs;
advocates indiscriminate marriage of all classes;
enjoins the marriage of widows;
enjoins abstinence from liquor and drugs ... exhorts
his disciples to be cleanly and truth-telling.

T

o
the points mentioned could be added a few more such
as reverence for the cow, simpler wedding ceremonies
and abolition of infanticide which received equal
emphasis. Baba Ram Singh was never reconciled to the
rule of the British. His prediction about its early
recession was implicitly believed by his followers,
who were forbidden to join government service, to go
to courts of law or learn the English language. The
movement thus acquired a strong political bias. Its
chief inspiration was, in fact, derived from opposition
to the foreign rule and everything tending to remind
one of it was shunned. English education, mill-made
cloth and other imported goods were boycotted. In its
advocacy of the use of the Swadeshi, the Kuka
movement forestalled, in the sixties of the last
century, an important feature of the nationalist
struggle under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

Kukas
even avoided use of the post of fives
established by the British and depended upon their
own system of postal communication. Messages from
their leader were conveyed with special despatch
and alacrity. A fast-riding follower would carry
the letter to the next village where another
devotee, setting all other work aside, would at
once speed on with it. People left off their
meals unfinished to reach forward a message.

A
spirit of fanatical national fervour
and religious enthusiasm grew among the Kukas
and the personality of Baba Ram Singh became
the focal point of a close and well-organized
order. The prospect was not looked upon with
equanimity by the government, who, after the
incidents of 1857, had become extra watchful.
When, in 1863, Baba Ram Singh wanted to go to
Amritsar for Baisakhi celebrations to which
he had invited his followers from all over the
Punjab, the civil authority became alarmed.
The Lieutenant-Governor charged the Deputy
Inspector-General of Police and the Deputy
Commissioner of Amritsar to ascertain the
real intentions of Baba Ram Singh and his
companions. The of ficials were notin favour
of imposing any restrictions, especially on
the occasion of a religious fair. But two
months later, when Kukas announced a meeting
to be held at Khote, a village in Ferozepore
district, prohibitory orders were issued
banning all Kuka meetings.

The
Kuka organization was subjected to
strict secret vigilance, and intelligence officers
in the districts sent in alarming reports
about its aims and activities. It was bruited
about that Baba Ram Singh was raising an army
to fight the English. Bhaini and Hazro were
kept under continuence survaillance. Baba Ram Singh
was sent to Andaman islands under Life imprisonment for
treason, he wrote letters to his
disciples in Punjab and other places. A selection
of letters was published by Dr Ganda Singh a few
years ago. The letters reveal Baba Ram Singh's
undying faith, his strength of character and
his love for his followers. An occasional note
of loneliness appears in these letters, though
his spirit of patient fortitude always proved stronger.

Baba
Ram Singh passed away on November 29,
1885. But many of his followers did not believe
that he was dead. They continued to hope that he
would one day come to the Punjab and free India from
the shackles of the English.

The
Kuka movement marked a significant stage
in the development of national consciousness in the
country. In the seventies of the last century, when
the English were reinstalling themselves in India after
the revolt of 1857, it gave them another rude jolt.

Like
the Nirankaris, Namdharis also formed
themselves into a separate sect. Today, they form
a distinctly cohesive group among the Sikhs. Two
things immediately mark them off from the latter—the
style of their headgear and their adherence to the
personality of their leader, Baba Jagjit Singh.
Apparelled in immaculate, white homespun, they
wind round their heads mull or longcloth without any
semblance or embellishment and without giving it any
sharp, emphatic lines.

While chanting the sacred hymns, they work themselves
up to such ecstatic frenzy that they begin dancing
and shouting. From these shouts and shrieks—kuk, in
Punjabi—some humorously inclined youth in a Ludhiana
village called them Kukas, little knowing that they
were conferring upon the newly developing order a name
which would be widely accepted and which would outlive
the more carefully chosen appellations adopted by its
authors.

The
Kuka outbreak was followed by a secret campaign
for the restoration of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last
Sikh king of the Punjab exiled by the British. The
Punjab was in the 1880's astir with rumour. Anticipation
filled the air. Reports were studiously kept in
circulation that Duleep Singh would lead a Russian
invasion into India and overthrow the British. A
network of secret communication was laid out. Duleep
Singh's emissaries kept infiltrating into India in spite
of government vigilance. His statements and
proclamations—as from "the Sovereign of the Sikh
nation and Implacable Foe of the British Government"—were
smuggled into the country for distribution. But he could not
even get to India and died in a hotel in Paris. Dilip Singh,
youngest son of Ranjit Singh had 6 children, 5 daughters and
one son. All died issueless.

Excerpts taken from these books. Heritage of the Sikhs by Harbans Singh ji.
Published by Punjabi university, Patiala